Tuesday, January 01, 2013

A Clean Slate

"Old Years and New"by Edgar A. Guest

Old years and new years, all blended into one,The best of what there is to be, the best of what is gone.Let's bury all the failures in the dim and dusty pastAnd keep the smiles of friendship and laughter to the last.

Old years and new years, life's in the making still;We haven't come to glory yet, but there's the hope we will;The dear old year was twelve months long but now from it we're free,And what's one year of good or bad to all the years to be?

Old years and new years, we need them one and allTo reach the dome of character and build its sheltering wall;Past failures tried the souls of us, but if their tests we stood,The sum of what we are to be may yet be counted good.

Old years and new years, with all their pain and strife,Are but the bricks and steel and stone with which we fashion life;So put the sin and shame away, and keep the fine and true,And on the glory of the past let's build the better new.

12 comments:

I've always liked Edgar Guest's poems. Long before my internet days I went on a search through local bookstores to find a compilation of his work. I failed, and then I forgot about it. Wonder what I would find now. : )

Hi neighbor! I'm visiting from Stitchin' by the Lake and just want to say that you have a nice blog. It looks like you received some great quilt-y Christmas presents. And good for you to have made a pillowcase for a child at Sandy Hook Elementary. Such a tragedy.

Lovely poem! And I'd sure be interested in hearing what you think about the new quilt book you got by Kim Diehl. I have all of her books except that one but since she only co-authored it I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it or not. Recommendation? blessings, marlene